The effect of social service agencies on crime rates in Kansas City, Missouri

The effect of social service agencies on crime rates in Kansas City, Missouri

Author:

Gordon, Cynthia

Date:

2012-06-13

Publisher:

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Abstract:

This thesis examines whether social service agencies mediate the effects of social
disorganization and subculture on crime in Kansas City, Missouri. Variables from social
disorganization and subculture theory are combined in order to spatially and statistically examine the
variation in the crime rates across the Kansas City area, and if these changes correlate with the
presence of social service agencies. The thesis relies on the analysis of crime and census data at the
census tract level that involved multiple tools of GIS, GeoDa, SPSS and other basic statistics; this
multiple step approach allowed the data to visually and statistically portray relationships and patterns
between the crime rates, the location and presence of social service agencies and the socioeconomic
predictors. The results indicate that the combination of social disorganization and subculture theory
have explanatory power in the prediction of the crime rate; however social service agencies do not
mediate these effects. The research suggests that the value social service agencies offer to
disorganized communities is not simply found in their spatial presence, and needs further
investigation.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10355/14653

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